-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Iowa Central Hall of Fame inductee Lisa Shimkat, of Fort Dodge, shares a laugh with her granddaughter Funlee Frascht, 5, of Urbandale, during the 2022 induction ceremony Saturday evening.
An author, a leader in the small business community, a beloved music director and several outstanding athletes were honored Saturday evening at the 2022 Iowa Central Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Triton Cafe.
“The reason that we celebrate tonight is because it’s a reminder that so many of our students not only come here to Iowa Central, leave and go on to have a better life, but they also leave and make this world a better place,” said Iowa Central President Jesse Ulrich.
Joseph LeValley,
Distinguished Alumni
Associate of Arts, 1973
-Photo courtesy of Iowa Central
Members of the 2007-2008 Triton Women’s Cross Country team were honored with the Triton Athletic Team Award at Saturday’s Iowa Central Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Dayton native Joseph LeValley attended Iowa Central in the early 1970s before moving on to Drake University. He then spent several years working as a journalist for the Mason City Globe-Gazette. LeValley later served as the director of community relations, vice president of planning and public affairs and senior vice president of network development for Mercy Medical Center — North Iowa, and retired as senior vice president of planning and system development for Mercy Medical Center — Des Moines and Mercy Health Network.
LeValley is a published author of five novels, his first titled “Burying the Lede.”
“This is a very special place and you should never take it for granted,” LeValley said. “…I love everything about my time at Iowa Central. Fantastic education, wonderful opportunities, just endless opportunities to do and exceed in things, and fail in things, learn from things and, of course, lifelong friendships.”
LeValley has also written 40 songs and is an inductee to the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame (2016).
“All the education I’ve enjoyed in my life, from elementary school to my master’s degree, has been important, but none more so than what I got from Iowa Central,” LeValley said.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Iowa Central Hall of Fame inductee Sessions Harlan chats with friends Saturday evening during the 2022 induction ceremony.
Lisa Shimkat,
Distinguished Alumni
Associate of Arts, 1991
When Lisa Caldwell Shimkat started at Iowa Central in 1989, she had no idea what the future would bring. She had no idea that she would go on to serve as the finance director for Cornbelt Power Cooperative and as the regional director for the Iowa Central Small Business Development Center (SBDC), let alone as the State of Iowa director for the SBDC at Iowa State University and as the vice president for America’s SBDC.
“Iowa Central was truly the foundation I needed to get started on my adventure in my role in making a difference and I appreciate this honor,” Shimkat said.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Iowa Central Hall of Fame inductee Tanner Aus, of New London, Minnesota, at right, gets the “are we done yet” look from his son Rowan Aus, 2, as they pose for pictures Saturday evening at the 2022 induction ceremony.
One of the early lessons she learned while at Iowa Central was the importance of just showing up — lest her calculus teacher give a pop quiz on the day she chose to skip class.
“It’s so important to be present,” Shimkat said. “I loved my time at Iowa Central. Whether it was the environment to ask questions, the opportunity to develop a sense of purpose, or a chance to set the stage for the future, I would not trade that time for anything.”
Dan Cassady,
Distinguished Faculty
and Staff
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Iowa Central Hall of Fame inductee Dan Cassady chats with Iowa Central Director of Instrumental Music Paul Bloomquist at the 2022 induction ceremony Saturday evening. Cassady and Bloomquist are two of the five members of the band Jive For Five.
Former Iowa Central music instructor and band director Dan Cassady has spent more than four decades contributing to the greater Fort Dodge music community, including many years teaching the next generation of musicians at Iowa Central Community College.
“I was always amazed at the sounds that he got from all of his students, all of them,” said Teresa Jackson, Iowa Central director of theater. “The mediocre, he made good, the good he made great, the great he made exceptional.”
When Cassady joined the Iowa Central department of music in 1995, there were just 13 students in the band program, he said.
“So I always call this my leap of faith,” he said.
Cassady served as the director of instrumental activities at Iowa Central from 1995 to 2006. He’s also taught music at Fort Dodge Senior High and St. Edmond Catholic School. Currently, he is an adjunct music instructor at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Iowa Central Hall of Fame inductee Joseph LeValley speaks after accepting his nomination at the 2022 induction ceremony.
“I recommended Iowa Central to students before, during and after my tenure here because excellence in teaching is promoted,” Cassady said. “There’s great teachers; there’s great leaders. I was seeing other institutions where it was the case where students were not treated on a personal level. But students got individual attention and get individual attention at this institution.”
Morgan Angotti, Athletic Award
Associate of Arts, 2009
In her three years wearing the Triton uniform, Morgan (Brown) Angotti was one of the most versatile athletes to compete for Iowa Central.
“In this day and age, it’s unheard of to be a two-sport athlete at the collegiate level and excel in both of those sports,” said Iowa Central Athletic Director Kevin Twait said, introducing the honoree. “Morgan Brown Angotti was a decorated three-sport student athlete in her time here at Iowa Central.”
As a freshman in 2006, Angotti led her volleyball squad to the national championships. As a member of the women’s golf team, she qualified for nationals in both her freshman and sophomore years. Halfway through her sophomore year, she joined the Triton women’s basketball team and helped propel the team to a 30-win season, Twait said. Angotti then returned to Iowa Central for a third year to play another season for the Triton women’s basketball team.
“Hall of Fame Coach Craig Carlson stated, ‘In my career, I have recruited and coached dozens of great basketball players, but I never coached a better all-around athlete or a tougher competitor than Morgan Brown,’” Twait shared.
Angotti said she looks back fondly on her time as a Triton and credits the college for setting her up for her future success.
“I’m amazed but in no way surprised to see the growth and accomplishment that the school has achieved over the years,” Angotti said. “I can’t think of another place that would have enabled me to have such a unique, busy and fulfilling time in my early years of college.”
Tanner Aus, Athletic Award
Associate of Arts, 2010
Minnesota native Tanner Aus helped elevate the Iowa Central Rodeo Team both in the Great Plains region and on the national stage during his time as a Triton.
Twait called him “one of the greatest competitors to ever represent Iowa Central.”
Aus credited his success to the coaching he received at Iowa Central from Bridget Lambright and Terry Coleman.
“With good coaching, a solid set of goals and regularly scheduled practice, I realized that I could be a better bareback rider than I ever thought possible before,” Aus said.
As a freshman, Aus finished 10th in the nation at nationals in bareback riding. A year later, as a sophomore, he finished third in the nation. He was also a two-time regional bareback rider champion. He went on to continue his education and competition at Missouri Valley College, finishing second in the nation as a junior and winning the Bareback Riding national Championship as a senior.
As a professional rodeo cowboy, Aus has qualified for the National Rodeo finals six times.
Sessions Harlan
Fort Dodge Junior College, 1966-67
The night’s third athletic inductee was honored for his contribution to the men’s basketball team even before Iowa Central Community College was named. At the time Sessions Harlan was a student, the local college was called Fort Dodge Junior College. Students were housed in the former Wahkonsa Hotel and took classes in the back hallway of Fort Dodge Senior High.
Harlan played for the junior college’s men’s basketball team — which played in the gym at FDSH. Harlan put Fort Dodge Junior College’s men’s basketball team on the map, Twait said.
“Sessions Harlan led us to Hutchinson, Kansas, where they played the national tournament for NJCAA, where his leadership and outstanding play propelled us to a berth in the NJCAA tournament and a fifth-place finish,” Twait said.
Harlan later led the Weber State Men’s Basketball team to two conference championships and two NCAA tournament berths.
Harlan was a police officer in Denver, Colorado, for 30 years, including nine years as the head of the Denver SWAT team. He’s also served as Muhammad Ali’s personal body guard while in Denver.
“This man was a great basketball player, but an even better public servant,” Twait said. “From Detroit, Michigan, to Fort Dodge, Iowa, to Ogden, Utah, to Denver, Colorado, this man has made a huge impact wherever he has gone.”
In accepting the honor, Harlan reflected on his English teacher from his time at the Fort Dodge Junior College.
“Dorothy Hall stressed to me many, many times, to be a student first, that basketball is only going to be temporary,” he said. “She taught me how to be a good man. Those are things that she put forth and instilled in me and so many other basketball players that I carry on to this day.”
2007-2008 Women’s Cross Country Team, Triton Athletic Team Award
“There’s no better person in the country to induct this team into the Hall of Fame than our own Head Coach Dee Brown,” Twait said. “There’s not a more decorated cross country coach in the country at any level. The amount of national championships … it’s just unbelievable what Coach Brown has built here at Iowa Central.”
Fifteen years ago, the Iowa Central Women’s Cross Country team made history — it became the first women’s team at Iowa Central and the first cross country team at Iowa Central to win a national championship in 2007.
“This is a team of many firsts, a foundation of success for years to come,” Brown said, introducing the team. “It’s the beginning of a very storied tradition in our programs and in the Iowa Central school history … This is the foundation for tradition and success.”
Holly Tjaden, the team captain in 2008, accepted the honor on behalf of her teammates. She reflected on the national championships the team won those two years.
“Driving home with our winning hardware, sitting in the front seat of the bus, was one of the best feelings in the world,” she said.
Looking back at the 2008 season, she said the ladies on the team knew they “had a target on their back.”
“And for that, we were determined more than ever to live up to those standards,” Tjaden said.
And live up to those standards, they did, bringing home consecutive national titles.
Members of the 2007-2008 teams were Ashley Stevens Babbel, Aderona Bradford, Sylvia Bundotich, Kathryn Dillon, Molly Cashman Dodder, Kara Keller Gittings, Lydia Gosgei, Kristina Heatherington, Lauren Mitchell Humphreys, Katrina Schott Jones, Agnes Kapsoiyo, Joyce Cheruiyot Kibet, Ashley Tarbox King, Amanda Vorthmann Oloff, Cassie Battenfield Rowley, Kacee Prelip Schmidt, April Aljets Schuster, Lindsey Borr Shephard, Katie Monahan Starkson, Dani Shaw, Holly Tjaden and Head Coach Dee Brown.